Headlight



Aug. 8, 1939.

J. VALLANDINGHAM HEADLIGHT Filed March 19, 1938 mWhmZiIykaI/z,

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE 1Claim.

This invention relates to headlights and has for an object to provide areflector having a slightly arched top wall and a substantially ovalbottom wall sloped downwardly from the rear end of the reflector, therear wall of the reflector being formed to receive the lamp bulb anddispose the same in such position that light rays will be reflected bythe top wall, bottom wall and arcuate side walls, forwardly anddownwardly, to eliminate the blinding glare inherent in conventionalheadlights.

A further object is to provide a headlight having the side walls cutaway so that light rays projected from the lamp bulb downwardly at suchan angle as to ordinarily be reflected in an upward direction, will notbe reflected at all thus promoting the non-glare advantages of theheadlight.

A further object is to provide a headlight having a novel reflector andhaving a mask covering the upper portion of the front end of thehousing, the front end of the reflector and the mask coacting to form aholder for a lens which covers the lower half portion of the front endof the housing, this construction preventing any light rays beingreflected from the upper half of the housing and which might causeharmful glares.

A further object is to provide a headlight of this character which maybe formed of a few strong simple and durable parts, which will beinexpensive to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood thatvarious modifications may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claim without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a headlight constructed in accordancewith the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the headlight shown inFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the headlight taken on theline 33 of Figure 1 and showing the inclined bottom of the reflector andcut away portion of the front of the reflector to permit light raysbeing reflected from one side of the reflector through a side lens toilluminate the side of the road.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the headlight taken on the line4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of referencedesignate similar parts in the various views, In designates asubstantially cylindrical headlight housing having a rounded rear wallII. A clamp ring I2 is mounted on the front end of the housing and isprovided with an integral mask [3 which covers substantially the upperhalf of the front end of the housing. A lens IA of substantiallysemi-circular shape is confined in the front of the housing against therear side of the mask and against the clamp ring, the straight upperedge of the lens being held in place by a Z-shaped flange [5 formed onthe front end of the reflector.

The reflector comprises a top wall l6 which is slightly archedtransversely, as best shown in Figure 4, and which is adapted to extendlongitudinally of the housing just above the axis of the housing. Thereflector is provided with arcuate side walls I! which conform to thegeneral cylindrical shape of the housing and which merge with a bottomwall l8. The bottom wall inclines downwardly and forwardly andterminates just beyond the central median diameter of the housing. Thebottom wall I8 is substantially oval in shape, as best shown in Figure3. The purpose of the bottom wall is to reflect light rays against thetop wall from which most of the rays will be reflected downwardly andforwardly. Rays which ordinarily strike at the bottom of theconventional reflector at the front end thereof, in this embodiment ofthe invention, will strike the housing since the side walls of thereflector are cut back to substantially the central diameter of thehousing as shown at l9. One of the side walls is cut away to the sideedge of the top wall as shown at 2B in Figure 4 to expose a side lens 2|carried by the casing. The opposite side wall is cut away to such aheight as to leave a strip 22, shown best in Figure 2, beneath the topwall Hi and opposite the side lens 2|, as best shown in Figure 4, toreflect light rays through the side lens and illuminate the side of theroad better than is ordinarily done.

The rear wall 23 of the reflector is integral with the top wall 16 andbottom wall l8 and is comparatively low. An opening 24 is formed at thecenter of the wall to receive the socket 25 of the lamp bulb 26. Thelamp bulb is thus positioned close to the rear ends of the top wall andthe bottom wall and by virtue of the top wall being substantiallystraight and extending longitudinally of the casing just above the axisof the casing, all light rays will be reflected by the top wall in adownwardly and forwardly direction to illuminate the road ahead of thehead lamp more brightly than is ordinarily done.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplanation.

What is claimed is:

A headlight comprising a substantially cylindrical housing, a maskdisposed in the front end of the housing and covering substantially thetop half area of the front end of the housing, a lens in the front endof the housing below the mask, a light source in the housing disposedslightly below the plane of the bottom edge of the mask, a reflector inthe housing having a slightly arched top wall disposed in closeproximity to the light source and extending forwardly in the housing tothe lower edge of said mask, a downwardly and forwardly inclined ovalbottom wall for the reflector terminating at substantially the centraldiameter of the housing, a short rounded rear wall for the reflectormerging into the top wall and into the bottom wall and formed to receivesaid light source, arcuate side walls for the reflector merging into thetop wall, one of the side walls being cut back at the bottom portionthereof to the front edge of said bottom wall of the reflector, saidbottom wall of the reflector being of less length than said top Wall ofthe reflector, a second lens mounted in the side of the housing near thefront end thereof, the cut away side wall exposing said second namedlens to receive some of the reflected light rays from the opposite sidewall of the reflector, and a clamp ring securing the reflector, the maskand the first named lens on said housing.

J ANIES VALLANDINGHAM.

